Alegal battle has stopped Friday the 13thfrom being resurrected for years, but the sun looks to be rising on Camp Crystal Lake. An upcoming TV show for Peacock is in the very early stages, but there was a time when we didn’t have to wait so long to see Jason Voorhees again. His status as a beloved horror icon formed with each passing movie. There were the pre-zombie years, a massacre on a spaceship, and the showdown with Freddy Krueger (Robert Englund). For all of Jason’s popularity, it’s hard to imagine that he wasn’t the one slicing up counselors inthe originalFriday the 13th.Although a hockey-masked Jason overshadowed his mother,the grief-stricken, rage-filled Mrs. Voorhees (Betsy Palmer) left a lasting impact on the franchise and other slashers.
Jason Voorhees Is Hardly Seen in the Original ‘Friday the 13th’
The mysterious killer in the first film is never clearly seen, with a first-person POV hiding the identity of whoever is adding camp counselorsto their kill count.So, the late arrival of Mrs. Voorhees in the movie is a big twist that comes out of nowhere, but it’s not quite a cheat for the audience.Friday the 13thisn’t a murder mystery that wants to offer clues to the culprit’s identity. WhatMrs. Voorheesmay lack in setup, she more than makes up for in motivation.Betsy Palmer’s performance toes the line between unhinged and camp as she reveals her murderous intentionsto the last counselor standing, Alice (Adrienne King).
The cozy appearance of Mrs. Voorhees in her sweater and her maternal words of concern for Alice don’t last long. The older woman’s deranged persona is exposed as she recalls her young son’s drowning atCamp Crystal Lakeyears prior and openly admits to killing those she held responsible,as well as slaughtering the current counselors to stop the camp from reopening.Mrs. Voorhees gets to be an expressive, human monster who doesn’t wear a mask like many slashers of the 1980s, including her son. The finale sees her vicious behavior lead to a vicious end when Alice decapitates her, but that wasn’t the end of Friday the 13th.Jason’s deathwould soon be reversed, and even though his mother’s death would be permanent,she lived on in other ways.
Jason was never supposed to be a full-fledged character, hence why his drowned corpse only pops out of the lake in the first movie asa jump scare(and dream sequence). A retcon inPart 2got him closer to becomingthe horror iconhe is known as, but it’s because of his mother that the series even has the main theme by composerHarry Manfredini. Inthe retrospective horror documentaryReturn to Crystal Lake, Manfredini talked about how he created the “Ki Ki Ki Ma Ma Ma” sound that is heard when the killer stalks and strikes to represent how Mrs. Voorhees hears her son commanding her to “Kill her, Mommy.” That became the signature motif in the score in later sequels that don’t completely move on from the franchise’s first killer.
Excited for ‘Crystal Lake’? NECA Just Added Pamela Voorhees to Their ‘Friday the 13th’ Figure Collection
Linda Cardellini takes on the role in the upcoming series ‘Crystal Lake.’
Jason keeps her decapitated head, along with her sweater, for a foul shrine. Out of desperation, the new final girl, Ginny (Amy Steel), puts on the sweater to trick Jason into believing she is his mother.The Final Chaptergoes on to officially introduce “Pamela” as Mrs. Voorhees' first name.And when the polarizingNew Beginningtried to restart the series without Jason, it rehashed the twist from the first installment. The impostorwearing a hockey maskis Roy (Dick Wieand), a father who wanted to get revenge for his son’s death. It’s an unsatisfying reveal for fans of Jason, and the unmasking of Roy after he is dead is just as lackluster. Betsy Palmer might not have returned for a cameoin 2003’sFreddy vs. Jason, where she was replaced byPaula Shaw,but theinfluence of what Palmer did as Mrs. Voorhees reached other slashersto come.
‘Crystal Lake’ Will Finally Bring Mrs. Voorhees Back
As movie nerd Randy (Jamie Kennedy) tries to uncover who is behind the Ghostface copycat killings inScream 2, he thinks more broadly about the suspect list — it could be a woman. “Mrs. Voorhees was a terrific serial killer," he says, offering a major hint to audiences if they notice it.Mrs. Loomis (Laurie Metcalf) is the mastermind, doing so to avenge the death of her son, one of the previous killers. The logic is as misguided as the carnage at Camp Crystal Lake in 1980, and Metcalf’s increasingly feral performance is a worthy successor to Palmer’s.
Modern shows and movies continue to pay tribute to Mrs. Vorhees.American Horror Story: 1984hasLily Rabeas a mother who loses one child to drowning, blames her other son for it, and leaves a massacre behind as she vents her rage. The afterlife gives her no peace, leaving her as a violent spirit to haunt Camp Redwood. Last year’sIn A Violent Naturereawakens the undead Johnny, who hunts down the camper who stole the golden locket from his gravesite, a memento of his mother. It’s a direct reference to the lingering presence of Mrs. Voorhees on Jason, which could be used for manipulation by a final girl or a slasher rival.
Despite the limited screen time the villain got in the original run, Mrs. Voorhees is as important to Friday the 13th as its horror icon.The upcomingCrystal Lakeis where the character may finally get her due. We’ll seethe return of Mrs. Voorhees to the franchiseshe first drew blood from, withLinda Cardellini taking over the role.The murderous mama bear will be a rotting, decapitated head no more.
Friday the 13th
